Nevada courts change DUI punishment after RGJ investigation

Dec. 3, 2009

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Log on to RGJ.com for our special report on the 1997 DUI law not being enforced for years in Nevada.

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After a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation, judges, prosecutors and parole officials across Nevada said they now are enforcing a law that requires courts to order the use of ignition interlock devices in felony DUI convictions.

The newspaper's investigation found that Washoe District Court judges had not ordered the installation of the devices that prevent a car from being started if the driver has ingested alcohol in any driving-under-the-influence case with death or severe injury since 2000.

The Nov. 22 Gazette-

Journal story prompted statewide changes.

"My district is aware of it and is moving forward to see that there is not an oversight again," said Second Judicial District Chief Judge Connie Steinheimer in Reno.

Additional Gazette-Journal investigating this week found judges in Clark County also have not ordered the devices, nor have prosecutors in Las Vegas asked for the requirement at sentencing.

Clark County District Judge Jennifer Togliatti, the presiding criminal judge, said judges in Las Vegas became aware of the law only after the Gazette-Journal story.

"We have not done a survey, but anecdotally, it has not been done in Clark County," she said, adding the department of parole and probation should have included the requirement in the reports they submit when a defendant is sentenced.

"Every judge I know will be doing it immediately," Togliatti said.

Washoe County Assistant District Attorney John Helzer said he is in the process of rewriting his office's plea memorandums to include the installation of an interlock device for felony DUI cases.

In Las Vegas, Chief Deputy District Attorney L.J. O'Neale, supervisor of the vehicular crimes unit, said the law requiring the devices now will be enforced.

"The plea agreements had not kept up with the change in the law and only said a judge 'may' order the device," he said. "We're changing the language from permissive to mandatory."

The state Parole and Probation Department is in the process of including the interlock requirement in reports given to judges at sentencing, with recommendations for punishment and special conditions after release, said Gail Powell, spokeswoman for the agency.

"We're going to add it on the PSI (presentence investigation report)," she said. "We're in the process of looking at verbage."

RGJ investigation

During a three-month investigation of Washoe County cases since 2000, the newspaper found judges had not ordered the interlock in any of 113 cases, despite the 1997 law.

Judges and prosecutors said they were not aware of the statute that mandates the interlock for anyone convicted of a DUI for a third time within seven years, which is a felony in Nevada, and for all DUI-causing-death-or-injury cases.

The law says a judge must order the device be used for one to three years when a person has completed sentence and seeks a new driver's license.

Some Washoe judges began ordering the devices as soon as they became aware of the law in early November.

Once the interlock device has been ordered at a sentencing, the court will send a form to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles that includes a copy of the judgment of conviction and the interlock device order, said Howard Conyers, Washoe District Court administrator.

The DMV will enter the information into the person's record, said Tom Jacobs, spokesman for the DMV.

"We'll flag that record so that when the revocation is complete, and they come in to get a license, the technician will ask for proof of installation," he said.

The person's driver's license will include a code indicating an interlock device is required, Jacobs said.